Stadium and quasi-stadium laser diodes

Abstract

We present theoretical and experimental studies on two-dimensional microcavity laser diodes with stadium and quasi-stadium shapes. We report a demonstration of lasing for the first time in a fully chaotic microcavity-a stadium-shaped cavity which is rigorously known to be fully chaotic. We also present systematic studies on quasi-stadium laser diodes for three types of resonator conditions: stable, marginally stable, and unstable. Morphological dependence of lasing characteristics of quasi-stadium laser diodes is elucidated. We also show examples of the application of quasi-stadium laser diodes to beam switching operation and optical signal distribution by using patterned electrodes and the phase locking phenomenon between two resonator modes.